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Hamish Alexander
Lord Hamish Erwin MacGregor Simpson Alexander-Harrington, 13th Earl White Haven, Steadholder Consort Harrington, was a Manticoran citizen and an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. Physical appearance He is one centimeter taller than Honor Harrington. Family Hamish Alexander was married to Emily Alexander and Honor Harrington, and had one younger brother, William. He was also an uncle of Lord Theodore Harper, Planetary Grand Duke of Manticore. ( ) He had a son, Raoul, with Honor, and a daughter, Katherine, with Emily. ( ) Character Alexander rose through the ranks quickly, of which he was proud that he did not use his noble status to his advantage. He was known to ignore "Going by The Book," when it was in his way, especially after the death of his father.Honor Harrington generally did not participate in the main military activities of the First Havenite-Manticoran War, so the presence of Hamish Alexander made it easier for David Weber to describe the course of the war. In his youth, he was an avid soccer player, preferring tactics over the use of brute force even then. ( ) Biography Alexander was born on the planet Manticore in 1820 PD/233AL as the eldest son of Murdoch Alexander, the 12th Earl White Haven, and his wife. He later chose to pursue a career in the Royal Navy. During his time at the Royal Manticoran Naval Academy on Saganami Island, he was under the tutelage of Lieutenant Raoul Courvosier, which developed into a lasting friendship during his Midshipman cruise. ( ) When Alexander was a Captain, Commander Craig Warner served under him. During that time, Alexander allowed Warner to go through with a duel. Later, he became the godfather of Warner's eldest son, Robert. At some point early in his career, Alexander married his first wife Emily, a renowned holodrama actress, who was later paralyzed in a horrible aircar accident. ( , ) At one time he served as Third Space Lord. ( ) Once promoted to Admiral's rank, Alexander led the school of traditionalist tactical thought against Admiral Sonja Hemphill's jeune ecole. In 1900 PD, he discussed Commander Honor Harrington's actions at in the Basilisk System with First Space Lord Sir James Webster in Landing. Afterwards, he went back to White Haven and conversed with his brother William about the situation, starting to brag about Harrington at meetings. ( ) In 1903 PD, after Commander Alice Truman of [[HMS Apollo|HMS Apollo]] sent an emergency message to the Admiralty, he met with Admiral Webster, who authorized him to take two ad hoc ''squadrons of battle cruisers to Yeltsin's Star. Commander Truman transferred to Alexander's flagship [[HMS Reliant|HMS ''Reliant]] in order to brief him. In order to get to Grayson as fast as possible, he ordered the fleet to high speeds. After relieving Captain Harrington's surviving unit, he led the invasion of Masada shortly afterwards. In the aftermath of the battle, Alexander met with Captain Harrington and reprimanded her for striking Reginald Houseman, but also conveyed the gratitude of Queen Elizabeth III. He was present when Harrington was knighted by Ambassador Anthony Langtry and received the Star of Grayson and Steadholdership from Protector Benjamin IX along with a Manticoran Earldom. ( ) Afterwards, he shifted his flag to [[HMS Sphinx (Sphinx class)|HMS Sphinx]]. Alexander met with First Space Lord, Admiral James Webster in late 1904 PD at White Haven to discuss Thomas Caparelli, whom Alexander thought as boneheaded, but better than Edward Janacek. In 1905 PD, he recently completed a survey of Manticore's frontier stations' readiness state at the behest of Admiral Webster. He was invited to a meeting by the Duke of Cromarty, Allen Summervale. Immediately before the outbreak of the First Havenite-Manticoran War, Alexander was serving as second-in-command of Manticore's Home Fleet. With the concurrence of Michael Mayhew, Admiral Caparelli decided to set a trap for the People's Republic of Haven by secretly sending heavy reinforcements to Yeltsin's Star System. Alexander commanded the reinforcement, thus superseding Sebastian D'Orville as Manticoran commander in the system. Haven's Admiral Amos Parnell fell for the trap, allowing Manticore to begin the war with the resounding victory of the Third Battle of Yeltsin's Star. ( ) After the First Battle of Hancock, he was named president of Captain Pavel Young's court martial. He then commanded Task Force 4, part of the Home Fleet, with [[HMS Queen Caitrin|HMS Queen Caitrin]] serving as his flagship.At the time, only nine active duty officers were senior to him. After Paul Tankersley's death, he gave Honor Harrington the order not to challenge Earl North Hollow to a duel. After she defied the order and killed Young, he regretted having given an illegal order and that he knew would be ignored even if legal. He led the primary thrust at the People's Republic of Haven after war was declared and was only stopped in the Nightingale System. He continued his drive on the Trevor's Star System and considered making a direct attack despite his reputation as a master of the indirect approach. He also managed to incorporate certain ideas of the jeune ecole despite his general distaste for it. ( , ) In 1913 PD, White Haven was given command of the Manticoran Alliance's Eighth Fleet, to be activated in the Yeltsin's Star System with [[GNS Benjamin the Great|GNS Benjamin the Great]] as his flagship. While being chastised by Honor Harrington for narrow thinking, he had a brief realization of how attracted he was to her, an emotion that came through to her through her link with Nimitz. As a result, when she was captured, he felt guilty that he may have driven her off Grayson. ( ) By the time of her funeral, he was sure he was the reason for her departure. When word of a Havenite attack on the Basilisk System was received, he ordered Eighth Fleet to re-deploy from Trevor's Star to Basilisk via the Manticore Wormhole Junction, and arrived just in time to prevent further damage and to inflict severe casualties on the attackers. ( ) When Honor Harrington returned to Trevor's Star with the Elysian Space Navy, White Haven was glad she was wearing the uniform of a Grayson Admiral so he could greet her as an equal. ( ) Because of the mutual hatred between him and Sir Edward Janacek, White Haven is placed on half-pay after the death of Prime Minister Cromarty and the rise of the High Ridge government. He and Honor Harrington finally realized they loved each other, but did nothing about it out of their mutual love and respect for Lady Emily. The High Ridge government, in an attempt to neutralize their influence, started rumors that they were lovers, which were fuelled by the fact that Samantha, the mate of Harringon's treecat Nimitz, adopted White Haven. Acting on intelligence that Harrington sent him directly, he traveled to Grayson to arrange for the Grayson Space Navy to reinforce Trevor's Star. Using the Manticoran Wormhole Junction on an emergency priority basis, they arrived in time to discourage Havenite Admiral Javier Giscard from attacking. Following the fall of the High Ridge government, White Haven became the new First Lord of the Admiralty. Meanwhile, his wife, after extensive discussions with Samantha, gave her blessings to him and Harrington acting on their love for each other. ( ) In 1921 PD, White Haven, Lady Emily, and Honor Harrington got married and decided to have children. At the age of 101, he became the father of a son, Raoul, from Honor and a daughter, Katherine, from Emily. ( ) Works Admiral White Haven translated Gustav Anderman's Sternenkrieg into English. ( ) Service Record Promotions * Lieutenant Commander, RMN - before 1855 PD * Captain, RMN * Admiral, RMN - before 1901 PD * Fleet Admiral, GSN - after 1914 PD * Fleet Admiral, RMN - before 1916 PD Posts and duties * Bureau of Weapons, Missile Development Command, Warhead Division - in or before March 1855 PD * Bureau of Planning * Senior Tactics Instructor, Royal Manticoran Naval Academy * Third Space Lord * in 1903 PD: ** Commanding Officer, light task force of the Home Fleetunnamed and probably ad hoc task force comprising two battlecruiser squadrons with screen, including Battlecruiser Division 17 or 18, supported by twelve lighter ships; flagship - [[HMS Reliant|HMS Reliant]] (BC); chief of staff - Captain Byron Hunter ( ) ** Inspector General, TADbefore the war he completed a survey of frontier stations' readiness states for Admiral Webster ( ) * in 1905 PD: ** second in command, Home Fleetflagship - [[HMS Sphinx (Sphinx class)|HMS Sphinx]] (SD) - 1905 PD, very likely Commanding Officer of a task force in the Home Fleet ( ) ** Commanding Officer, reinforcement force from Home Fleet for Second Fleetfour battlesquadrons, possibly Task Force 4 ( ) ** Commanding Officer, Second Fleetflagship - [[HMS Queen Caitrin|HMS Queen Caitrin]] (SD) ( ) ** Commanding Officer, force in Mendoza-Chelsea region ( ) ** president of the court martial board - Captain Pavel Young's case ( ) ** Commanding Officer, Task Force 4 of Home Fleet ( ) * Commanding Officer, Sixth Fleetincluding direct command over a task force of Sixth Fleet during the first battle of Nightingale; chief of staff - Captain Byron Hunter - 1905-1911 PD ( - ) * Commanding Officer, Eighth Fleetflagship - [[GNS Benjamin the Great|GNS Benjamin the Great]] (SD) 1911-1915 ( - ) *First Lord of the Admiralty after retirement. ( - ) Half-pay periods * 1862-1864 PD Medical Leave due to wife's near fatal injuries. ( ) * First Janacek Admiralty ( ) * Second Janacek Admiralty ( ) External links * Portrait of Hamish Alexander by Jenny Dolfen References Alexander, Hamish Alexander, Hamish Alexander, Hamish Category:Bonded Characters in the RMN Service Alexander, Hamish Alexander, Hamish Alexander, Hamish Alexander, Hamish Alexander, Hamish